Jamaican listed for 2024 World Athletics Men’s Rising Star Award
There is a Jamaican proverb that says, “Encouragement sweetens labour.”
This concept is one that many business employers have adopted, and so has the international governing body for athletics, World Athletics.
Over the years, the body has not hesitated to rain down awards or accolades upon its athletes who have achieved marvellous things within the sport. Not only do they cater to seasoned athletes but also to the juniors who are just getting a feel of the professional scene. Most recently, World Athletics announced the finalists for the 2024 Men’s Rising Star Award, which will recognise this year’s best Under-20 athlete at the World Athletics Awards 2024.
When talking about global Under-20 stars, it would be wrong not to include Jamaican triple jump phenomenon Jaydon Hibbert, who also holds the global Under-20 record. World Athletics announced Hibbert on Monday, November 12, as one of three contenders for the 2024 Men’s Rising Star Award. Hibbert was the World Under-20 leader in the event in 2024, recording a 17.75m at the Racers Grand Prix on June 1 at Kingston’s National Stadium. The 19-year-old then narrowly lost out on a medal at the Paris Olympics in August, finishing fourth by 0.03 centimetres after jumping 17.61 meters.
The nominations reflect some of the standout performances that the sport has witnessed this year, at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games, World Athletics Indoor Championships, World Athletics U20 Championships, World Athletics Cross Country Championships, one-day meeting circuits, and other events around the world.
The other two finalists are Mattia Furlani, the Italian World Under-20 long jump record holder, who also won World Indoor silver and Olympic bronze, and Niels Laros of the Netherlands, who broke the World Under-20 1000m record and placed sixth in the 1500m in the Paris Olympics.
World Athletics also released the nominations for the Women’s Rising Star Award. The finalists include Sembo Almayew of Ethiopia, the World Under-20 3000m steeplechase winner, who also placed fifth at this year’s Olympics, and Angelina Topic, the World Under-20 high jump champion from Serbia, who is also an Olympic finalist and came sixth at the World Indoor Championships. Last but not least, Yan Ziyi of China is the world Under-20 javelin record holder and world Under-20 champion.